Muses of Terra (Codex Antonius Book 2) by Rob Steiner Page B

The ones who were awake watched Cordus with tired eyes.
    The room reeked of unwashed bodies and vomit.
    Next to him was the woman who spoke to him. Cordus thought at first she was another Legionary until he noticed her clothes: They were tattered and dirty, but in the style of a citizen.
    Cordus tried to sit up. Pain shot through him again, but he clenched his teeth and sat up so his back was against the wall like Kaeso.
    “Where are we?” he asked Kaeso.
    “Remember the tower we passed when we entered Nascio?”
    Cordus nodded. “What do they want with us?”
    “I just woke up myself. Don’t even know how long we’ve been out.”
    “You’ve been here a day,” the woman next to Cordus said. “No idea how long you were out before that. The fulgurators can keep you down for up to four days.”
    Cordus eyed the woman. “Fulgura…?” He assumed she was referring to whatever the golems had used to knock him out. “What is your name, my lady?”
    The woman gave him a tired laugh. “Such manners, for a simple merchant. I am Aquilina.”
    Cordus turned to Kaeso, and he shrugged. “Tarpeius has bigger things to worry about now than paying us for our the insect repellant we delivered.”
    Implicit in the shrug was, We’re cargo haulers, kid…and no more.
    Taking up the act, Cordus sighed. “So much for a quick payday. Where is Tarpeius?”
    “Not here,” Kaeso said.  
    Cordus turned back to the woman. “How did you end up here?”
    “Those scraps of vat flesh think I’m a Roman patrician,” Aquilina said, then gave Cordus an amused glance. “But I’m also a simple merchant.”
    “She’s a godsdamned spy, is what she is,” a legionary growled. He was around Kaeso’s age with graying hair in the stubble on his head and face. His left forearm had a long cut that was sewn shut hastily with haphazard stitches. “She’s one of them Liberti numina everyone whispers about. Merchant, ha! Mound of pig cac , if you ask me. We was arresting her when the golems rebelled.”
    Aquilina shook her head wearily. “I don’t know what else to tell these men, but I am no spy. Yes, I’m from Libertus, but I was delivering fertilizer. Just because I do well and dress well, the golems—and our esteemed fellow prisoners—think I’m something I’m not. They’re just upset and taking it out on me.”
    The legionary started to rise. “You’re godsdamned right I’m upset! I lost good men—”
    “Easy, friend,” Cordus said in a soothing tone as he rose to his feet. “The golems are the enemy. What is your name?”
    The legionary glared at Aquilina, then shifted his eyes to Cordus. He exhaled sharply through his nose, then sat back down and leaned his head against the wall.
    “Paulus Ulpius,” he said. “Centurion, 2 nd Cohort Equitata Machina, 24 th Legion.”
    “I’m sorry for your losses, Centurion,” Cordus said, easing back down. “Are you and your men all that’s left of the 24 th ?”
    “Aye,” Ulpius said, glancing at the six others nearby. They all looked defeated, demoralized, and ready to die. “Been six days since we was captured. Three more came in here with us. Golems crucified them, one every other day. If the pattern holds, they’ll take another one of us today.”
    Dariya groaned next to Kaeso. Her eyes fluttered open, and she sucked in a ragged breath when the pain hit her. Kaeso put a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she awoke.  
    Cordus turned to Aquilina. “So we were hit with a… fulgurator …?”
    “A gun that shoots lightning, but doesn’t kill,” she said. “Hurts like a bolt from Jupiter, though.”  
    Ulpius said, “The flamens gave it a fancy code name I don’t remember, but the men came up with fulgurator , a lightning gun. Shuts down your body, puts you into some kind of hibernation.”
    Kaeso gave Cordus a meaningful look. “Seems the Romans have a new toy,” he murmured.  
    In the past, before Cordus fled Roma, any “new toy” came as a revelation from the